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Why We Love Galavant (And Other Fantasy Comedies)

If you haven’t heard of Galavant yet, it’s a four-week “medieval
musical comedy” put on by ABC. The phrase “medieval musical comedy” was enough
to intrigue me, and the last two weeks’ episodes have delivered on the hilarity
in a big way.

Here’s what makes it so great:

The trailer

I dare you not to hum along!

The songs

The combo of Alan Menken and Glenn Slater is pretty
unbeatable. As my cousin likes to say, Alan Menken composed the soundtrack of
our childhood (Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast), and Galavant’s tunes
deliver in a similar way. They’re catchy, and fun, and definitely get stuck in
your head!

The guest stars

John Stamos as a pansy jerk of a knight is hilarious! (See
the joust scene below) I’m also excited to see Weird Al, Rutger Hauer, and
Ricky Gervais in their guest spots.

The tongue-in-cheek
fantasy tropes

Like the old Monty Python classics, Galavant is able to make
fun of itself and the larger fantasy/ fairytale genre while never veering far
from its love of those same tropes and stereotypes. The noble knight, the fair
maiden, the evil king. Galavant turns them delightfully on their head, but
still speaks to the heart of what we all love about those tales.

The joust scene

In traditional medieval showdown style, Galavant and his
knight nemesis (John Stamos’ character) face each other in the joust…only they’ve
both been either drugged or overtrained into a stupor.

Want More Comedic Gold?

I also saw the Harry Potter tribute episode of Psych for the
first time last week, and if you’re looking for more comedic fantasy gold, look
no further. It had me snorting and crying in laughter after about two minutes.

From comicbook.com

And since my Packers won, a shout out to Aaron Rodgers' favorite - the ever-quotable Princess Bride!

Have you seen Galavant? Does Monty Python have a classic
place in your collection? Are Shawn and Gus your go-to comedy duo?